Howdy Marie! I'm way late here but just now found your thread. We received one of these cookers for Christmas. So far, it's had a pretty good workout. At first, I wondered what I could do with it, it seemed redundant and we don't fry anything. I think it's the thermostat which makes it real handy. I haven't been able to get anything to stick in it yet and it washes like a dream. The first time I used it, the connection on the cord perturbed me until it dawned that it was a safety breakaway feature. Very clever! I've made a number of soups in it; clear, cream, bisques, etc., for dinner guests and it worked beautifully! I now catch myself looking at most every raw foodstuff as potential soup material! I steamed about 5 lb. of thick winter squash and was amazed that it was plenty done in about 8 minutes. (I then peeled the squash and made a soup of it in said cooker.) I'm looking forward a couple of months when we have fresh garden veggies to steam. I would guess that a minute or two would be sufficient for most items. In addition cooker will boil water faster than our gas range. So much for electric being slow! I haven't figured out how to steam rice in it yet, the holes in the basket are too large. Any suggestions?

Two things, one, I want John to be my dad!! Two, I had a friend who's son got kicked out of his dorm for having a pocket knife. And he didn't even remember that he had it. That was Temple University. They had to kick him out because they had a zero tolerance policy. It was just for one semester. He had to move home and commute. Weird but true. That was about 8 years ago though. Totally cool that some dorms now have communal kitchens! I lived in one for a summer semester but it didn't have a cafeteria. I totally melted the carpet because I was carrying a pan back from the kitchen to my dorm to eat it and I set it down to open the door and didn't realize it was hot enough to melt the carpet! Nice brown circle burned into the carpet by my dorm door! I loved that arrangement back in the day, but yes, college cafeteria food had some a long, long way since then, some places around me are even doing the whole "local" produce thing with college gardens too. Lots of veggie options that I would have never dreamed of. I had to exist on broccoli cheese casserole back when I lived in the dorm. My dorm room cooking consisted of peanut butter and honey on saltines. But I went to the farm market and got fresh ground peanut butter and comb honey! Ramen in the hotpot and tea, what more could a college student ask for!

I've used a pressure cooker for over 35 years, and am so dependent on it that I always had one in my travel trailer as well as my own kitchen. My daughters both own one; one daughter uses hers as often as I do. Believe it or not, she requested one for a birthday present while she was still in college! The other one reluctantly took the one from her grandma's RV (after they sold their RV), and now really likes using it. Roasts -- chili -- spaghetti sauce -- sirloin tip steaks -- are just a few of the things I make in mine. It's used at least once a week. I currently have a Presto stainless steel whose handle has loosened too much to use, so I am using the Mirror aluminum model that used to be in my travel trailer. Donna

I have one I bought used a few years back. Its really a piece of art! It really is the best cooking residential stove I have ever used. The one I have is the Grand V...something, its 63" long. A few things to consider: They are insanely heavy! Make sure your floor can support the weight. It took 6-7 guys to move mine off of the truck. The thick metal that makes them so heavy is also what makes the units cook so even and nice. the cast iron plates hold the heat very well. The electric needs to be 220 volt even if its a gas unit which is strange. At least on mine. Cosmetic parts are becoming hard to find. The guts(valves, burners, and tech parts) are still available from a company in France. If you need the email I could dig it up. Here is a picture of the one I have before we had it installed. I bought it off craigslist for $150.00... yes one hundred fifty dollars. They guy was going to scrap it. It had been donated to a church by a wealthy family and the ladies in the church kitchen/rec hall couldn't figure out how to use the european gas 1 thru 6 settings instead of 350 or 425 degree settings. Good for me Best of luck and let me know if you need anything, Tom